A short observation about DU ads

[Jacson6]

I know it takes advertisement to keep this site up. But when a person visits DU and is not a Star member then they get pop up videos. If you try to hit the X button most of the time it takes you to the ad web page and doesn't close the video. Also if you close the video then in a few seconds a new ad video pops up. It makes the DU site unreadable in a smart phone.

Just an observation.

[CCExile]

1. Totally agree.

I am all for ad support, but this is discrimination against the cash strapped. That, and some of the ads are just DISGUSTING. Shameful. Not worthy of DU.

[ThreeNoSeep]

2. A short observation about the low-cost solution

DU literally allows you to pick the price of a Star Membership. Ten bucks, $20, $5 or $1000, it's your pocketbook.
After I write this message, I'm going to purchase one for myself for a price I will choose, and I'll move on without those ads. They really are annoying, especially on a smart phone. Businesses have been using the "remove annoyance" value exchange for longer than the Internet has existed. Examples include cable television, NPR and mimes.
DU accomplishes it with a certain elegance and grace that allows the buyer to feel good about their purchase with little chance of buyer's regret, because, face it, we all want DU to keep going.
I'm a rural public librarian, We use a "pay what it's worth to you or what you can afford" system for our monthly used book sale. Sometimes we sell 10 books and make $5. Sometimes we sell two books and make $100. It keeps the public library going. DU's shopping cart reminds me of that.

[ThreeNoSeep]

3. What an improvement

No ads. Really. No ads!

[questionseverything]

4. How can du ever attract new members if new people can't read it?

I don’t think any of us send money to a website before we read even one article….

[ThreeNoSeep]

6. If it actually is the case that articles are impossible to read

You are right. Nobody pays without reading articles for free at first. Up until about 30 minutes ago I was not a Star Member. I read DU on my smart phone, tablet and PC, and the ads were annoying, but I could usually navigate around them. If you cannot read articles at all, that is a technical problem on your end. I say this next bit as gently as possible, having helped many people solve technical problems over the years. If you cannot read the articles, this could be an end user issue such as a phone setting, ad malware, browser setting or bad browsing practice.

[questionseverything]

7. Sure a person could navigate around them if they spent enough time at it

But

That’s not how people roll

There’s way too much content on the web to hassle with pop up after pop up

[ThreeNoSeep]

8. You be you

[Shipwack]

5. Those are annoying, but there are worse...

Before I installed an ad blocker on my phone, at least once a day I got an ad that took over my browser and sent me to a scam website to "remove" the malicious malware they claimed to have found. Going back to DU was blocked. The only remedy was to close the browser and come back here later.

My financial situation will soon be better, and then I'll donate.